<p>So you guys think I have a good chance of getting into UC? I really like the character of the college, and would you have any other recs for my college choices considering I will be majoring/Specializing in Near East Studies? And are there any colleges that most American students go to?</p>
<p>The UT Viewbook that I have says that Americans need 1700+ SATs with no section under 500 and 3 SAT Subject Tests. Canadians only need a good GPA. That's fairly easy for Americans (and especially Canadians), in my opinion. </p>
<p>I've also applied to UT; Trinity is my first choice. Unfortunately I don't know anything specific about the college(s) - I come from British Columbia. To be honest, I based my decision solely on the price of the room and board fees; I figured that a high cost would equate to better facilities. I'm glad that Trinity is the hardest college to get into though, because I did not know that before you posted, awsomo20. Could you tell me more about the colleges at UT? </p>
<p>UT is my safety, along with the University of British Columbia. Generally with these huge public universities, it's really easy to get accepted, which is why they do a lot of weeding in the first year. However, I believe that since the admissions criteria are a bit more stringent for Americans than it is for Canadians, you will be more qualified and will have no trouble pulling a good grade at UT. </p>
<p>If you apply to Ontario universities, you fill out something called a OUAC form. It's thoroughly confusing and annoying to use, but it allows you to pick any 3 universities in Ontario for a base fee of $110 CAD and supplementary fees for each university (at UT, it's $80 CAD). It is my honest belief that the rest of the universities in Ontario (Waterloo, Western Ontario, Queen's, McMaster) do not even compare in the slightest to UBC in terms of faculty and research, which is why I only applied to one school in Ontario. Essentially, that one application cost me $190 CAD. </p>
<p>I could have applied to two Ivies for $75 and still have money to take a couple of friends out to the movies.</p>
<p>There is no average SAT at UT because Canadian universities do not require Canadian students to submit SAT scores. The GPA, on the other hand, is intense. There was a poster at my school that boasted that the average GPA of incoming students in Engineering Physics was 92%. It's obviously a highly selective program; UT Engineering has always been highly regarded. </p>
<p>I'm going to go on a tangent a bit:</p>
<p>I'm curious about the grading. Grade inflation / deflation always depends on the teachers, and the teachers at my school who give easy marks are well known to the entire student body (as well as the teachers who don't)! 92% is an awfully high GPA to achieve if you are taking the toughest courseload possible with grade deflation and numerous extracurriculars. No university in Canada takes into account your extracurricular activities unless you fill out a supplementary form (because you can't get above the cut-off for admission). At UBC, there is a self-reporting option whereby you enter your grades online in their system and they will give you an automatic decision (only applies to BC students though). If it's high enough, you're automatically accepted. That means that there is going to be a TON of weeding out the first year, especially since graduation requirements are so slack in BC. Some people take the lightest courseload possible with a 96% average - those are the type of people who are going to get a scholarship, and ironically, get weeded out in the first year.</p>
<p>So I'm a bit skepitcal about the 92% average for the incoming class of Engineering Physics. How heavy are their courseloads, and how many get weeded out of the program?</p>
<p>Very true. American schools care a lot about extra curriculars, so if you have those then its good. But a lot of Americans like schools in Canada because its an easy application process. Are humanities programs hard to get into?</p>
<p>Do state schools (generally less selective) care about your extracurriculars or make you write an essay? I believe that only selective universities do these kinds of things. </p>
<p>I think that humanities programs are equally as selective (or non-selective) as science-oriented programs. To be honest, I don't think you have much to worry about. Since it's a public university, it strives to educate as many students as it can. At UBC (I'm talking about UBC a lot since I don't know much about UT, but these two universities are similar in many aspects), the cut-off GPA for the humanties is actually less than the cut-off for the sciences, 84% vs. 90%, respectively. That has me a bit confused since it's generally accepted that good marks in humanities are easier to attain than marks in the sciences (in both high school and university). Geography, Drafting and Design, Social Psychology, and Comparative Civilizations, all of which are related to the humanities, are extremely easy courses when you compare them to Physics, Calculus, and Biology. </p>
<p>Of course, since UT has a well reputed engineering program, you will find extremely qualified students in the program. I guess it all depends on the program you choose.</p>
<p>when i applied to engineering for u of t i've chosen my residence as new college i believe due to the proximity to engineering buildings. Make sure your residence is close to your classes because the campus spans quite a few blocks in Toronto downtown. You do not want to be walking long outside when it's winter @ - 20 celsius. </p>
<p>and from what i have heard from my friends and those grads apparently trinity won't consider you unless you put them into first choice. </p>
<p>another note about trinity: it cost more than the other colleges.</p>
<p>That's a review on the colleges by a former student. I agree with most of what it says. My other personal opinion: St. Mikes is the worst college, I base that mostly on just personal impression of its buildings and atmosphere. Also Victoria and Trinity only will consider you if you put them as your 1st choice. Innis is probably the next most selective. So i would suggest putting 1 of those 3 as your top choice and then either New, University, or woodsworth as your second and you should be okay. Have a look at the university map though, the proximity of the college to your classes should at least be considered. I originally wanted to choose Victoria but it is one of the farthest away from my commerce classes so I ended up changing my first choice to Innis.</p>
<p>Canadian and US curriculum are pretty similar I think. I did the Math 2, Lit, and Chemistry SAT subject tests and other than some very small notation differences they followed what I learned in Canada. The social studies area probably differs the most in curriculum but I can't imagine it would be so different that a little extra studying for the first month or so couldn't fix it.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the advise. I put Trinity first (I love the Harry Potter atmosphere) and UC second, because I've heard great things about UC. Does anyone have an idea of what GPA would get someone into Trinity? Also, any general ideas for my chances at UT? Also, do you feel a US high school curriculum would prepare one well for U-Toronto? And would putting Vic as a second choice be pointless, or are they sort of lenient? And if I want Trin and Vic, will I just have to choose one and not have a chance with the other?</p>
<p>from the information i've gathered and heard Ontario high schools are more difficult compared to American high school, but university is vice versa.</p>
<p>My English teacher attended University of Calgary and his brother attended Notre Dame and both pursued English degrees. According to my teacher his course work at UofC was much harder than Notre Dame's and his general opinion was that Canadian universities are grade deflators where as many American universities are grade inflators. This might hold some truth but I think it has to be a pretty big generalization. I'm pretty sure you will find a lot of Canadian and American universities that are both easy and hard in their course work.</p>
<p>As for high schools I think it is kind of like that as well. You will find hard ones and easier ones. The one thing that is different though (at least where I live) is that Canadians don't view AP courses as necessities while in the US they are. There are a lot of TOP students in my school content just to take the regular college preparatory classes and achieve high marks in them since Canadian universities don't care that much about AP from Canadian students (a little different for American students because they want the standardization). In that sense US students might have a harder curriculum but many Canadian students certainly choose to take that curriculum too.</p>
<p>Is it a waste to put Trinity and Vic 1 and 2? I have no idea honestly but I would imagine it works something like this:</p>
<p>Each college gets a list of everyone who got into U of T and put the college as their first choice. They then pick the X amount of students that they can fit in, some colleges who don't have enough applicants would take everyone who put them as first choice. They then can cross off all the already full colleges off everyone's lists (Most likely only Victoria and Trinity at this point). They then go to everyone's next choice and repeat until everyone is satisfied.</p>
<p>That though is the logical way to go about it and we all know that a lot of things don't work logically. If it does work like that then it would not be a waste to put Victoria as your number 2 and if by chance Trinity, and some of the colleges growing in popularity like Innis and New get a lot of first choices then maybe you will get into Victoria anyways. If though they use some sort of non run off ballet system then putting Victoria 2nd could technically impair your chances at university college.</p>
<p>In summary I have no effing idea but my gut says to go ahead and put Victoria 2nd, university is a very big college and i really don't think you will have any problems getting into it even as a 3rd choice.</p>
<p>As for whether or not you will get into U of T, you have to just take a deep breath and stop fretting. You have a good chance, just settle in and wait for the good news.</p>